


kissing but in a bro way

by SpacePancake



Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, artist terry, awkward boys, feels ooc, grant thinks he’s broken, not everyone calls terry jr TJ but grant sure does, not understanding feelings... GO, spoilers for episode 36, the dialogue is fairly stilted because they don’t know how to communicate, they’re not very good at talking but it helps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25016521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpacePancake/pseuds/SpacePancake
Summary: After returning from the clusterfuck of an adventure that was finding Grant’s anchor, Grant just wants to be alone. When he comes across TJ he finds that he might just be willing to talk about just a few little feelings... as a treat.
Relationships: grant wilson & terry jr
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	kissing but in a bro way

**Author's Note:**

> The dialogue is this is SUPER stilted because they are very awkward boys, I’m sorry :( Dialogue heavy because fuuuuuuck description

As soon as they had reached Walter’s house, Grant separated from the group. He wondered for a bit, no destination or goal in mind. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he knew he needed to find it. He took a dirt path through the local forest, making an unnecessary effort to step on each twig so he could hear them snap.

He ended up settling on the ledge of a small stone bridge. It wasn’t  _ it _ , but the sound of rushing water from the shallow river below was nice.

“Hey.” Came a voice.

Grant looked down. TJ looked back up at him from where he was crouched on the grass a little under the bridge.

Grant squinted. “What are you doing?”

TJ stood up and revealed from the shadow of the bridge a stack of worn-looking paper with black ink across the surface. He held the paper up a little. “Drawing frogs.”

Grant paused for a moment before he jumped down, landing in a crouch to lessen the impact of the ground. The water splashed up to his knees, but he didn’t pay it any mind. The actual water level was barely above his ankles anyway. 

He made his way to TJ’s side and looked down at the paper in his hands. Somehow despite having only pretty blotchy ink at hand, TJ had managed to draw some pretty realistic frogs. Some more stylistic ones were scattered across the page as well. It was proper  _ art  _ art, nothing like Grant could ever do.

“Cool.” Was all he said.

TJ smiled though. “Walter found me some paper and ink somewhere after I told him I do art back home.”

“Cool.” Grant said again. “Do you just draw frogs?”

“Models are hard to find. I’ve been using Nick over and over again since the twins can’t sit still for shit.”

Grant didn’t say anything.

“When did you get back?” TJ asked.

When  _ did  _ they get back? It was so hard to keep track of time in this world. “Little while ago.”

“How was it?”

“Fine.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“We cheated at football or whatever, that’s really all that happened.”

TJ hummed, seemingly unconvinced. “Can I draw you?”

Pause. “What?”

“I need a new model and this way I can keep you company without talking about whatever it is you’re not talking about.”

“... sure.”

TJ smiled in a way that softened his eyes and made his whole face seem brighter. He sat down on the grass again and Grant followed.

It was nice, the comfortable silence that sat between them as TJ worked. When he looked up, Grant would look back. Sometimes they’d catch each other’s eyes, and sometimes their gazes would linger, and sometimes TJ would do that soft smile of his when he looked back down at his paper afterwards.

Grant saw TJ’s lips move but was too focused on looking at TJ that actually comprehending what he said came as an afterthought.

“Huh?”

“I said: I’m done.”

“Oh.”

TJ budged up closer until he was sitting right beside Grant and tilted the sheets of paper towards him. The drawing was good,  _ really  _ good, but it was almost alien. There was a hint of a smile on ink Grant’s face that he knew wasn’t there, all the tension from his body had been zapped away to portray a person who seemed comfortable. At ease. 

It wasn’t him.

“You made me look too good.” Grant said instead of any of that.

“You look this good in real life.”

Both boys went wide-eyed at his statement, and Grant saw the panic all over TJ’s face after he realised what he had said.

“I mean, this is how good you look in real life. This is... This is just what you look like. Not  _ not  _ good though, you  _ do  _ look good. Just…” TJ caught Grant’s gaze. “Can I kiss you?”

Grant nearly jumped.  _ Those words.  _ The words he had said to Yeet just a little while ago. Haunting him.

But now someone else was saying them to  _ him.  _ Grant had never considered his feelings towards TJ being like  _ that.  _ Did he like TJ? He was definitely pretty. He was nice and he listened and he was probably the person Grant felt closest to. Not to mention that soft smile that Grant couldn’t stop thinking about.

Grant must’ve taken too long to respond because TJ continued talking. “Sorry, that was weird. Forget I said anything.”

He didn’t feel the way he felt towards Yeet towards TJ, but did that really mean anything? He barely felt anything nowadays. Maybe a kiss from a cute boy he felt close to would spark something in him. Maybe it would unlock a part of himself that he’d lost and he’d finally be able to  _ feel  _ again.

“No.” Grant said. “Don’t— Don’t forget about it. I would… I’d like to.”

An awkward beat passed between them and then all at once they were both moving forward and their lips were pressed together.

It started soft and gentle. Grant was momentarily in a daze. His  _ first  _ kiss. He was kissing someone for the first time. A kind, pretty boy liked him and was  _ kissing  _ him. It slowly dawned on him though that he wasn’t actually  _ feeling  _ anything. No sparks. Maybe it wasn’t exciting enough. He wrapped his arm around TJ’s neck and pulled him closer, kissing him with a deeper sort of desperation. TJ’s arms wrapping around his middle in return felt  _ nice  _ but it still wasn’t  _ it. _

Suddenly, Grant was acutely aware of just how weird kissing felt and how terribly incorrect everything was.

Grant froze and TJ pulled away.

Grant didn’t feel any of the feelings he had for Yeet for TJ. It wasn’t the kind of fairytale kiss that would fix everything wrong with him. The initial shock of the kiss had made him feel  _ something _ , but it wasn’t anything like the kind of fire he’d been expecting to feel. TJ was his best friend and he was definitely cute, but Grant was pretty sure he didn’t want to kiss him again any time soon.

They looked into each other’s eyes and Grant knew the lack of feeling was mutual.

“Oh.” TJ said.

“Yeah.” Grant replied.

They loosened their arms but Grant’s hand lingered on TJ’s shoulder and TJs’ rested at Grant’s sides.

“Sorry…” TJ said, with a crooked smile. “Guess I was just thinking… well, in a movie that would be the moment where everything just  _ clicks _ , you know? Slow music and a closeup and all the feelings finally make sense. It was dumb.”

“No. It wasn’t.” Grant defended. “I, uh, tried to kiss Yeet at the football game, you know.”

“Yeet was  _ there? _ ”

“Yeah.”

“And you kissed him?” TJ asked.

Grant looked away and brought his hand back to rest on his knees. “He rejected me.”

“Oh… man. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Grant said, like he said a lot. “But it’s just like, I had actual  _ feelings  _ towards Yeet so I just figured that if we were together I would feel more of that. Like he could fix me?”

“You know that’s not how that works.” TJ pointed out.

Grant stopped avoiding his look. “I know.”

“So, you kissed me because..?”

“Guess I just thought kissing someone would spark something. The same thing. Maybe more?”

“I’m pretty sure depression doesn’t have the same rules as the frog prince.”

Grant actually smiled at that, unable to help it. “Shut up.”

“There’s plenty of frogs over there though if you want to test out the actual story.”

“Shut  _ uuuup.”  _ Grant repeated, punching TJ weakly on the arm.

TJ’s smile relaxed a little. “This is probably the last thing you want to hear, but it’s probably good that Yeet didn’t like you back. Otherwise you’d have to find a way to convince him and his sister to come back with you to our world.”

“I mean, not if I didn’t.”

“Go back?”

“Yeah.”

TJ yanked his hands away from Grant’s sides. “Are you really thinking about that?”

“I mean, I  _ was.  _ Just a little bit. I know it isn’t exactly good but fighting makes me  _ feel _ things. I can’t do the same stuff back home that I can here. I might have to get used to the idea of it anyway.”

“What does  _ that  _ mean?”

Grant shrugged. “I’m pretty sure we’ll have to kill Paeden or something for Dad and me to get back and Dad’ll never do that, even to get home.”

“Paeden’s your anchor? But I thought-“

“The anchor was like… if we break it, Paeden’ll get all my granddad’s memories or something and  _ that’s _ the anchor.”

“Is Paeden your granddad!?” TJ asked incredulously.

“I… guess? Dad explained whatever it was really badly, honestly.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah. Staying here doesn’t seem so unrealistic anymore.”

TJ looked puzzled for a moment but then he furrowed his eyebrows and straightened his mouth in a certain determined way. “If you get stuck here, I’m staying with you.”

“What? No.”

“I’m not just going to leave you here.”

“What about your mom?”

“What about  _ your  _ mom?” TJ shot back.

Grant didn’t respond.

“Ron can go back to mom. They’ll be fine. I’ll stay here with you.”

“He isn’t going to go without you.” Grant said. TJ gave him a look. “He  _ isn’t.” _

“Grant—“

“Hey, kids!” A voice called out. The two boys turned towards the bridge where Grant’s dad was bounding across it with a pretty forced-looking grin across his face.

He made his way over to the pair. “Hey, Terry. Walter told me I might find you here. You doing okay, Grant?”

“I’m fine, dad.”

“Hey, Mr Wilson.” TJ replied politely.

“Well, we’re all getting food. You guys want to come grab a bite?” He asked.

“I’m good.” Grant said.

“We’ll be there in a minute or two.” TJ amended.

Daryll looked between the two of them, seemingly unsure of who to listen to. “Well, alright! See you boys back at Walter’s place.”

The two of them didn’t speak until his dad was completely out of sight. 

“I’m not hungry.” Grant grumbled.

“You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. But I’d like to have you on my team in case Lark and Sparrow start a food fight.”

“They do that a lot?” Grant asked.

TJ smiled. “Way too often.”

They got up and walked in silence. Grant shoved his hands into the large pocket of his hoodie and watched as TJ’s arms swung lightly as they walked. Somehow the air between them wasn’t awkward. A certain level of weirdness was so ingrained in them already that their weird shared moment felt pretty natural all things considered.

It was halfway down the forest pathway to Walter’s house that Grant stopped. TJ stopped with him. 

“Can we…” Grant began, “Pretend the kiss never happened unless it’s like,  _ just  _ us around.”

TJ chuckled. “Who am I going to tell — Ron? ‘Hey, Dad! Can I talk to you about my failed romantic escapades real quick’?”

“YOU KISSED?” A voice yelled and Sparrow dropped down from the tree beside TJ.

TJ yelped like a small dog and stumbled backwards. Grant had to quickly take his hands from his pockets and catch him by the shoulders to stop him from falling over.

From the tree on the other side of the pathway, beside Grant, Lark swung down — legs still wrapped around the branch above him. “KISS! KISS! KISS!”

Sparrow came up close to the two of them with shining eyes. “Are you two  _ romantically involved?” _

“No.” Grant said.

Sparrow frowned.

TJ put his hand on Sparrow’s shoulder. “We kissed, but we realised romance wasn’t the right fit for us. No shipping.”

Sparrow nodded. “I shall ship you as friends.”

TJ took back his hand and pulled a face. “... sure.”

“Blood brothers!” Lark chimed in, fists in the air

“Blood brothers!!” Sparrow returned with equal enthusiasm.

“We should go get food.” TJ suggested.

“Wait!” Lark yelled, jumping down from the tree. He and Sparrow joined back together in the middle of the path, forming a tiny blockade. “You don’t want anyone else to know you kissed? How interesting.”

Grant sighed. “What do you want?”

Lark smiled in a way that would scare the devil. “Just a favour. Anything of our choosing to cash in whenever we please.”

“Fine.” TJ relented.

“But you only get one favour between us.” Grant said. “Not one from each.”

Sparrow piped in. “We agree to your terms if we get one favour each.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the nice one?” Grant asked.

Sparrow shrugged. “I still capitalize on profitable business ventures.”

“Fine.” TJ agreed.

Lark and Sparrow both held out their hands at the same time and TJ and Grant shook one each before the twins crossed over their arms so they could get a handshake from the other.

“Your secret is safe with us!” Lark said as he retracted his hand.

“We’re great at secret keeping!” Sparrow agreed with a nod.

Grant was doubtful. “Cool.”

The two boys ran off and TJ and Grant continued forward. Grant wanted to say _ something _ but the words were left buzzing on his tongue. It took several agonising minutes of screaming at his own brain to actually open his mouth.

“If I get stuck here, you shouldn’t stay with me.”

Grant looked at the boy beside him, TJ continued looking forward but his eyebrows furrowed.

“TJ—“

TJ interrupted him,  _ still _ looking forward. Looking pointedly not at Grant. “You don’t get to decide what I do.” 

“It’s stupid.”

“You’re stupid.” He shot back weakly.

Grant let the weight of  _ just  _ how weak that was settle between them. “Wow.”

TJ’s look lost a smidge of its determination, eyebrows scrunching up to pull his face into a cringed expression. “Shut up.”

“Cringe ass fail insult.”

It was TJ’s turn to lightly push Grant’s arm in protest as he laughed gently, pushing him enough to make him teeter off to the side. “We’ll find a loophole to get you back home somehow, even if I have to kill Willy myself.”

Grant’s face squished up. The idea of TJ killing someone was… uncomfortable. “Don’t even joke about that.”

TJ’s eyes flickered over to meet Grant and somehow Grant  _ knew  _ he wanted to say  _ “I’m not.” _

He didn’t say it. “And if it turns out you’re stuck here… we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Nothing set in stone, okay?”

“Okay.” Grant agreed.

“In the meantime, I’ll be here for you no matter what.”

Grant smiled. “Thanks.” And that was all there was left to say.

They continued on without saying anymore, but the oppressive silence had lightened into something comfortable — like it had been earlier.

Things were not okay, but TJ made everything so much easier to deal with. Grant was pretty sure he didn’t like TJ romantically, but he could say with full certainty that he loved him.

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
